''Together'' () is a comedy-drama film, which was released to cinemas in Sweden on 25 August 2000. It is Swedish director

Lukas Moodysson Karl Fredrik Lukas Moodysson (; born 17 January 1969) is a Swedish filmmaker, novelist, and short story writer. First coming to prominence as an ambitious poet in the 1980s, he had his big domestic and international breakthrough directing the 1 ...

's second full-length film. Set in a

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

commune called "Tillsammans" (Swedish for "Together") in 1975, it is a satirical view of socialist values and a bittersweet comedy. Moodysson filmed a sequel titled '' Together 99'' that was released in 2023.

Plot

''Together'' is set in one of the sharehome communes that was created around

in the 1970s. Loosely led by the kind-natured Göran, who will do anything to avoid a conflict, the group spend their time arguing about left-wing politics and other more practical issues, such as whether doing the dishes is

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

. The sharehome's dynamics are significantly shaken when Göran's sister, Elisabeth, leaves her violent husband Rolf and moves in, bringing her two children Eva and Stefan. Self-declared lesbian Anna lives in the commune with her ex-husband Lasse and their son Tet (named after the

Tet offensive The Tet Offensive was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The Viet Cong (VC) and North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched a surprise attack on 30 January 1968 against the forces of ...

), who befriends Stefan. The two play games such as "torture the Pinochet victim" where, in the spirit of equality, they take turns at being

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

. Eva meanwhile befriends a lonely boy across the street named Fredrik; his family appears conventional on the surface but proves to be even more dysfunctional than the commune of which they so openly disapprove. The children are portrayed as sidelined by everyone in the film, from the new school where they are bullied to the parents who, while genuinely loving, are too busy experimenting with their own freedom to show it. Elisabeth's husband Rolf makes a concerted effort to clean up his act, although not before getting drunk and arrested, leaving his children stranded on a roadside after a disastrous meal in a Chinese restaurant. Further relationship problems are found with Klas, who is desperately in love with Lasse, and between Göran and his selfish and immature girlfriend, who wants the benefits of an

open relationship An open relationship is an intimate relationship that is sexually or romantically non-monogamous. An open relationship generally indicates a relationship where there is a primary emotional and intimate relationship between partners, who agree to ...

but not the responsibilities.

Selected cast

* Lisa Lindgren as Elisabeth *

Michael Nyqvist Rolf Åke Mikael Nyqvist (; 8 November 1960 – 27 June 2017) was a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malmö, he became well known for playing police officer Banck in the 1997–1998 Martin Beck TV series and for his leading role ...

as Rolf, Elisabeth's husband * Emma Samuelsson as Eva, Elisabeth's and Rolf's daughter * Sam Kessel as Stefan, Elisabeth's and Rolf's son * Gustaf Hammarsten as Göran, Elisabeth's brother *

Jessica Liedberg Jessica Martina Liedberg (born 7 October 1969) is a Swedish actress. She graduated from the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting in 1992. She and her husband Gustaf Hammarstein have four daughters. She was nominated for Best Supporting ...

as Anna * Ola Rapace (credited as Ola Norell) as Lasse * Axel Zuber as Tet, Anna and Lasse's son * Shanti Roney as Klas * Olle Sarri as Erik Andersson * Anja Lundqvist as Lena, Göran's girlfriend * Sten Ljunggren as Birger * Cecilia Frode as Signe * Lars Frode as Sigvard * Emil Moodysson as Måne *

Henrik Lundström Per Henrik Lundström (born 13 December 1983) is a Sweden, Swedish actor. He was educated at Sankt Eriks gymnasium in Stockholm. Filmography *2000 - ''Together (2000 film), Tillsammans'' *2003 - ''Evil (2003 film), Ondskan'' *2003 - ''Sprickorna ...

as Fredrik

Production

Although set in

in eastern Sweden, the film was actually shot in western Sweden, mainly in cities

Trollhättan Trollhättan () is the 23rd-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County. It is situated by Göta älv, near the lake Vänern, and has a population of approximately 50,000 in the city proper. It is loc ...

and

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. Filming began on 27 October 1999 and wrapped 20 December 1999. Artist Carl Johan De Geer created the film's contemporary environments. The character "Birger" previously appeared in Moodysson's short film ' Talk' (Bara prata lite) in 1997, where he was also played by Sten Ljunggren.

Reception

Critical reception

The film received critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 90% based on reviews from 79 critics, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Managing to be both satirical and warm-hearted in its look at the inhabitants of a commune, ''Together'' successfully captures the spirit of a time." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". The New York Times called ''Together'' "A funny, graceful and immensely good-natured work", while ''Salon'' described it as "The kind of picture that makes you feel that there are many good reasons to actually like mankind."

Box office

The film opened on 87 screens in Sweden and grossed $506,479 in its opening weekend. It was number one at the box office in Sweden and grossed $6.4 million from 880,000 admissions. It grossed $1.3 million in Norway, $1 million in the United States and Canada and almost $1 million in the United Kingdom, for a worldwide total of $14.6 million.

Soundtrack

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

– "

SOS SOS is a Morse code distress signal (), used internationally, originally established for maritime use. In formal notation SOS is written with an overscore line (), to indicate that the Morse code equivalents for the individual letters of "SOS" a ...

" *

Maggie Bell Margaret Bell (born 12 January 1945) is a Scottish vocalist. She came to fame as co-lead vocalist of the blues rock group Stone the Crows, and was described as the UK's closest counterpart to American singer Janis Joplin. Bell was also promine ...

– "Caddo Queen" * Hoola Bandoola Band – "Vem kan man lita på?" * Pugh Rogefeldt – "Här kommer natten" * Ted Gärdestad – "Jag vill ha en egen måne" * Tony Hung – "Paddy Fields No. 1" * Peps Blodsband – "Onådens år" *

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

– " Love Hurts" *

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated IH or International) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household equipment, and more. It wa ...

– "It's Only Love" * Ted Gärdestad – "Så mycket bättre" *

Bo Hansson Bo Hansson (10 April 1943 – 23 April 2010) was a Swedish people, Swedish Music of Sweden, musician best known for his four instrumental progressive rock studio albums released throughout the 1970s. Early life and musical career Hansson spe ...

– "The Black Riders (Flight to the Ford)" * Shit & Chanel – "Jorden Vinden Fuglene" * Shit & Chanel – "Fandango" *

– "Leaving Shire" * Nationalteatern – "Hanna från Arlöv" * Tony Hung – "Morning Stroll" *

– "At the House of Elrond and the Ring Goes South" * Marie Selander – "Vi är många" * Turid – "Song" * Ted Gärdestad – "Come Give Me Love"

Sequel

In 2022, Moodysson filmed a sequel to the film, titled '' Together 99''. It is set to be released in 2023. The sequel is set in 1999 and follows Göran and Klas as they establish a new commune. Most of the actors returned, with the exception of the children, Michael Nyqvist, who passed away in 2017, and Ola Rapace, whose role of Lasse was recast with actor Jonas Karlsson.

References

External links

* * *
Together Movie Review
{{Lukas Moodysson Films set in the 1970s 2000 films 2000 comedy-drama films Danish comedy-drama films Swedish comedy-drama films Italian comedy-drama films Films directed by Lukas Moodysson Danish LGBTQ-related films Swedish LGBTQ-related films Italian LGBTQ-related films 2000s Swedish-language films Zentropa films 2000 LGBTQ-related films LGBTQ-related comedy-drama films Danish independent films Swedish independent films Italian independent films 2000s Swedish films